Drs. Jerome E. Dobson ’65 and Jeffrey R. Dobson ’65 were honored with Reinhardt University’s Distinguished Alumnus of the Year awards at the fourth annual Talon Awards Gala in Canton, Ga., on Thursday, March 20, 2014. This award recognizes an individual with outstanding personal achievement and an unselfish and dedicated personal devotion to Reinhardt. Randell Trammell ’03, ’09, past-president of the Reinhardt Alumni Board of Governors, presented these two awards.

Dr. Jerome E. “Jerry” Dobson is a Professor of Geography at the University of Kansas, President of the American Geographical Society, and a Jefferson Science Fellow with the National Academies and U. S. Department of State. After graduating from Reinhardt in 1965, he earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Georgia and his Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee.

From 1975 to 2001, Jerry Dobson was with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory rising to the rank of Distinguished Member of the Research and Development Staff. In 2009-2010, he served as Senior Scientist in the Office of The Geographer of the U.S. Department of State. He holds two lifetime achievement awards for Geographic Information Science: one conferred by the Cartography and Geographic Information Society in 2008 the Robert T. Aangeenbrug Distinguished Career Award conferred by the Association of American Geographers in 2009.

Other Career Highlights include: Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science; President and Chair of Fellows of the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science, and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. He has published more than 200 professional articles, editorials, and reports. He and his brother Jeff Dobson co-authored two novels, The Waters of Chaos: The Ancient Saga and The Modern Quest.

Professor Dobson led the development of two world standards: the LandScan Global Population Database which is used worldwide for estimating populations at risk during all types of disasters and the United Nations’ standard for how landmines, minefields, and mine actions are represented on maps.

He and his wife Gwen live in Lawrence, Kan., and they have two sons, Eric and Craig.

Dr. Jeffrey R. “Jeff” Dobson founded InterLink USA, and Global InterLink Corporation where he currently serves as President and CEO. After graduating from Reinhardt, he received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in Geography, specializing in global resources, from the University of Georgia. He has been an Assistant Professor at the University of Alaska, Ohio State University, the University of Illinois and The University of Georgia.

In 1982, Jeff Dobson founded Data Research and Applications in Knoxville, Tenn. and served as President and CEO until 2009. In 1980, he was Principal Geographer and Head of Spatial Systems for HDR Sciences in Santa Barbara, Ca. Later, he became Manager for Geographic Management Information Systems for the Missiles and Space Division of TRW in San Bernadino, Ca.

Jeff Dobson works in real-time Multimedia Emergency Collaboration via hardware and software for data communications. He specializes in disaster recovery and backup systems and serves as a negotiator of cross-cultural alliances. Dobson is active in Professional and Civic activities, serving on Boards which specialize in data for maritime navigation and computer tracking, routing for addresses, plasma core antennas, and nano materials and fabrication. He was an Alderman in the Town of Farragut, Tennessee. He and his wife, Dana, have 3 daughters and they live in Knoxville, Tenn.

In 2009, Jeff and Jerry competed in the Ernest Hemingway Lookalike Contest in Key West, Fla. They lost.

About Reinhardt University

Founded in 1883, Reinhardt University is focused on shaping lives and building futures. As a private comprehensive university affiliated with the United Methodist Church, Reinhardt offers 41 graduate and undergraduate programs, ranging from business and education to music and theater.

Reinhardt has two locations- a residential campus in Cherokee County in Waleska, Ga., and a center focused on adults in Alpharetta, Ga., and it offers selected programs in Cartersville, Marietta, and Woodstock, Ga. Additional attractions on the Waleska campus include the Falany Performing Arts Center and the Funk Heritage Center.

For more information, please contact Reinhardt at 770-720-5526 or 1-87-REINHARDT or see the University website at www.reinhardt.edu.

Department of Geography and Atmospheric Science Events

Your browser must support JavaScript to view this content.
Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings then try again.